Re: Programming on a Macbook Pro

Posted 07 November 2010 - 06:24 PM

So I'll answer this in two parts:

Part 1: What don't I like about programming on a Mac...

Nothing. As far as programming goes, in terms of programming on Windows or on Mac, there isn't any difference that is close to being noticeable enough for me to say I dislike or hate anything about programming on one machine or the other just because of OS. Maybe the only difference that took getting use to from switching over was keyboard short cuts and for the most part, switching programs and editors that were not cross platform compatible. In some minor cases, differences in how the same programs functions on one OS vs the other but that's more a OS argument than a programming argument.

Part 2: Macs VS Windows

This part is a bit more lengthy than needs to be and as such, I won't go into all the unnecessary details but is only included because I do primarily web and mobile development and there are subtle differences in the OSes that does affect this area that I have gripes with. Keep in mind both OS have their cons and if I had to choose all over again, I would still personally choose a Mac at this point (after being a Windows dominant user for about 2 decades now and only been an active Mac user for less than a few years; FYI I still have Windows installed on my Mac but practically never use it anymore).

That said, since I don't want to write a storm up here, I'll just include one example. I dislike the fact that some software needed like java, etc are built into the OS thus making some things broken on other browsers outside of Safari. Unlike on Windows, browsers have plugins you can install to remedy this. The same browsers on Mac sometimes don't have this alternative thus they don't work as well as their 3rd party counter parts on Windows. Since I run parallels, this doesn't create a problem if I need to check how they behave but for day to day use, this gets annoying.

A side note, another problem is the same exact browser (aka firefox, chrome, etc).. don't render the same on both OS. Thus sometimes you have to check BOTH OS for the same exact browser. A bit annoying to say the least but can easily be fixed with virtualization running.

Re: Programming on a Macbook Pro

Posted 08 November 2010 - 12:56 PM

It seems the majority of CS students when I was in school had Macbook Pros, I can only imagine that's remained the same. I use one now for programming, but I also have professional requirements with Windows, so I make use of Parallels. Of course, you can always make your Mac dual boot.

nooblet mentions browser rendering issues across OSs. Very true, but the upside to this as a web developer is you can test your sites across Mac and Windows on various browsers, which is what you want to do anyway to ensure compatibility among a wide range of users.

Re: Programming on a Macbook Pro

Posted 09 November 2010 - 10:50 PM

Definitely want to look into whether you will be expected to use visual studio or not. We have to submit VS projects for my graphics class...the only class I've ever had that required a specific IDE. Lots of moaning and groaning from Mac users due to the hassles they have to go through to meet that requirement.

Re: Programming on a Macbook Pro

Posted 10 November 2010 - 06:24 AM

SpeedisaVirus, on 09 November 2010 - 09:50 PM, said:

Definitely want to look into whether you will be expected to use visual studio or not. We have to submit VS projects for my graphics class...the only class I've ever had that required a specific IDE. Lots of moaning and groaning from Mac users due to the hassles they have to go through to meet that requirement.

Otherwise, macs are as good of a development platform as any other.

Plan A: Using BootCamp you can boot into a Windows environment. So you would be dual boot: MacOS or Windows.
Plan B: Using VMWare Fusion, you can be in the MacOS and launch a Virtual Machine that is Windows. So you would have a window with Windows in it. The neat thing there is that VMWare Fusion has an option to drop out the window. I think they call it 'Unity'. So your Windows applications appear to be MacOS native applications. You can even drag-n-drop from the MacOS desktop to the Windows application and so on.

Re: Programming on a Macbook Pro

Posted 10 November 2010 - 10:30 AM

Yeah but that basically means you are eating up something like 18gb just to be able to run VS. Having to install windows for essentially 1 app was the biggest gripe. There are many ways to do it. Same thing with the linux folks, same gripe same fix. I do it so I can have a linux environment for development on my windows machines. I wouldn't pay for VM software though for personal use when there are free alternatives that get the job done admirably.

Re: Programming on a Macbook Pro

Posted 10 November 2010 - 10:38 AM

How did you come up with 18gb of RAM?

If the Virtual Machine is 2 gigs of ram then you eat up 2gb. If you want to test on a low-end configuration then you set the VM to 1 gig of ram. If you want to test on a high-end machine, then set the VM to 4gb (assuming you have that much to spare)

Or did you mean HDD space?

If you use BootCamp you still have to set aside space for the Windows boot drive/image. So you have the same footprint either way.

I use VM's a LOT. Its great to develop on Win7x64, but debug into a WinXPx32 virtual machine etc. No need to have 10 boxes just to test in 10 different target OS configs.

Re: Programming on a Macbook Pro

Posted 10 November 2010 - 11:22 AM

Jambr, on 05 November 2010 - 11:46 PM, said:

I have used a Macbook before and I really enjoy them

Then get one. You can do everything you want on the Mac, and like people say, install Windows on it too to get an environment for testing Windows apps and developing particular .NET stuff.
Remember, if you do want to install Windows, it'll cost you the full price of a Windows license on top of the Apple tax.

The Mac is a good* choice because it allows you to develop for iOS as well, which you can't do on non-apple hardware. Or you can't do easily. The OSX environment will make working with UNIX servers feel familiar to you (and most web servers are UNIX or some form of Linux if you're going to be doing web programming.

* I hate the OSX GUI and hardware design choices. I hate using Macs. Therefore, when I recommend you get the Mac, I'm not just being a fanboy here.

Re: Programming on a Macbook Pro

Posted 10 November 2010 - 07:58 PM

18 GB HD space. Depending on the version of windows that might be an exaggeration but maybe not. I used to run Win7 and a linux guest with 2GB of ram and still could multitask on both guest and host. Run 4GB now but it wasn't necessary.